The Meeting
by Jelsa777
Summary: Hiccup, now chief of his village, must go to the meeting of the clans. There he will encounter those hostile to dragons. Will he be able to change their minds? Or will he have to fight for the dragons he cares about? To answer a question I got, this isnt planned to be a Hiccstrid or Mericcup, though technically could be the first as I am sticking with the movies as a background.
1. Chapter 1: Dragon Problem

Hiccup sighed deeply. Now that he was chief of the tribe, he had so many duties, ones he really didn't feel prepared to do. Like this one, having to visit other tribes of Vikings in a nearby land to discuss treaties. He had never gone with his father to one of these meetings and right now he wished he had.

He didn't even bring Astrid with him, he couldn't bear it if he were to fail and she saw it. Most of the nearby tribes knew that he could train dragons, but he didn't really want that knowledge to become too wide spread, so even though he had brought Toothless with him, he had decided to keep him onboard the ship until night, when he would sneak him off.

The place they were meeting at was also recently taken over by a girl of his generation. Her father had merely stepped down though, so he would probably be there to guide her. In fact a lot of the tribe leaders were also new, younger ones. But even this knowledge didn't make him dread it less. How he wished he had asked Astrid to join him now instead of letting pride control him.

Bucket came back to where he was standing to let him know that they were nearing land. Hiccup thanked him and moved to the bow, to catch sight of this land that he would be visiting for probably quite some time. After all they were Vikings, which made them very stubborn.

His timing seemed to be pretty good, as a lot of other ships were docking and preparing to dock at this moment. Fog surrounded the shore, but he could already tell it was going to be a beautiful land. Now he really wished he had brought Astrid to share this with. He knelt down on the deck and whispered, "Toothless, stay quiet, I promise I will be back for you tonight."

And then they were docking, a girl with bright red curly hair waited for him on deck. "Welcome. I am Merida, Queen of this land. If you need anything during your stay, do not hesitate to ask." She said with a smile. "Thank you my lady. I am Hiccup, Chief of Berk." Merida giggled at his name, but said nothing and quickly brought it under control. "Enjoy your stay here, Hiccup." She replied as she moved on to the next boat.

Hiccup saw an older man, who must be her father, following her at a distance. If he was anything like his father, Hiccup knew the girl would probably here it for laughing at his name. Not that he blamed her though, I mean not too many people with the name Hiccup went on to be chiefs. In fact he couldn't think of anyone in the history of Berk with that name that had amounted to anything.

Later, as they met in the great hall, Hiccup looked around the room. He was relieved to see that everyone who knew his secret that was there were his allies and trusted friends. Heather, a girl who had once washed up on Berk, had become the leader of her village, and he smiled at her, to which she smiled in return.

Eret was also there, though he didn't technically run a village, he was in charge of a large amount of men, and so had been invited. They both nodded at each other, and Hiccup relaxed, realizing that these two, along with the other recognizable faces, would keep his secret.

Looking once more around the room, he was covered by a wave of sadness. Every young leader had their father or mother there to guide them as they learned their duties. While Hiccup did have a mother, she hadn't been around for very much of Stoick's, Hiccup's dad, time as chief. Still Hiccup wished he had brought Valka along, if for nothing more than moral support.

Merida's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as she said "Welcome everyone, to the meeting of the clans. I am so glad that so many of you could come, and that you call had relatively safe journeys." She looked at her father as if to be sure she was doing all right, before continuing, "I see there are many new faces, like my own, this year. I hope we can all come to the terms to a successful treaty. Who would like to start?"

A hand was raised off to Hiccup's right, and Merida motioned for the owner to go ahead. The girl that had raised it, stood up and said "Thank you Merida. I have to agree it is wonderful to see so many new faces. Maybe new blood can figure out how to solve our dragon problem." Hiccup shifted uncomfortably as Eret and Heather shot him a look, before returning their gazes to the girl.

Merida frowned and said "Dragon problem? We have had no problem with dragons here. What kind of problem do you have… I'm sorry what your name is?" "Forgive me, how could I forget, I am Anya. Almost every night our village is attacked by dragons. They steal our livestock and burn our buildings. We have never provoked them and this only started happening recently."

"How recent?" Hiccup asked before he could stop himself. He tried to keep his emotions off his face, his mind was moving a mile a minute. Perhaps there was another nest of dragons be ruled by an Alpha that was cruel. Anya gave him a curious glance, and Eret and Heather worked to keep their gazes off of him, as she said "About two months ago. Worse of all, we are pretty sure there was a Night Fury, we never saw it, but we heard what we believe was one."

A gasp filled the room as the tribes that had ever dealt with dragons heard this. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, the Night Fury was one of the most feared dragons. Merida, and a handful of other tribes looked confused at this, but Hiccup had to work to keep his face from showing his delight. Another Night Fury! Could it be possible they had finally found another one?

The room exploded with options for Anya's tribe to try, but Hiccup remained silent. How he wished he knew where Anya's island was, he would fly Toothless there tonight. Course he would have to make up some sort of excuse for not staying at the tribal council and he would have to agree to follow everything that they decided on, even if it was something he didn't agree with, so it was probably for the better that he couldn't go.

After the meeting, Heather and Eret walked over to him, both unsure if they could speak freely in front of the other until Hiccup, in an excited hushed tone, said "Did you guys hear that?! Another Night Fury!" "That is wonderful Hiccup, but did you hear the suggestions afterwards?" asked Heather. "I have to admit I was too excited to listen. What were they?"

"Some people suggested me and my men be allowed to capture them." Eret said, "But the worse suggestion is that they allow Dagur and his Hooligan Tribe to come here and tell them about this knowledge that it is rumored they have. And we all know what that knowledge is." "Oh great, if the other tribes learn that I can train them, they will either get angry and declare war on Berk or they will get angry and just kill me. Worse yet, is I did bring Toothless with me."

"Yea that will really show your loyalty to Vikings." Heather said "You do know that we will stand with you Hiccup, but I really hope it doesn't come to that. Since most of the tribes are being run by a new generation, that means we would have to wait a lifetime for them to get over it, if they even did then." "I know. We really need to keep this a secret, Eret you have to push for them to pick you and your men. If it doesn't work out that way, this could end in disaster."

The other two nodded then said their goodbyes. As Hiccup gathered up his things, he heard a throat clear behind him. Turning he saw Merida standing there as she said "You were awfully quiet during the meeting. Why were you so curious as to when the attacks on Anya's village started?" Hiccup gulped before saying "My village was once attacked almost nightly for quite some time. I wanted to see if it had started in the same month, if maybe there was a pattern so I could predict a possible day when it would end, but they were totally different months, so there went that theory."

Merida looked like she didn't believe him, but just said, "Well to bad your theory didn't work out. It was nice meeting you Hiccup. See you tomorrow." As she walked away, Hiccup sighed in relief, not seeing the smile that it brought to Merida's eyes. He left the hall and went to his boat to check up on Bucket and the rest of the men, as well as Toothless.

Later, when he deemed it dark enough to safely take Toothless out without being seen, Hiccup went below deck and said "Okay bud, we can go, but we have to be careful that we aren't seen. Not to many people here are crazy about dragons." Toothless nuzzled Hiccup, before Hiccup climbed up into the saddle and they took off into the sky.

First they got some fish for Toothless to eat, who had eaten all that Hiccup had given him that morning not to long after he did so. They flew for some time after that so Toothless could stretch his wings, after being confined below deck all day and for most of the last week. Finally they decided to land and find a place for Toothless to stay for the remainder of the visit.

"Down there looks like a good place bud." Hiccup said and Toothless gently took them to the ground. As they touched down, Hiccup slid out of the saddle and turned to face Toothless. "I know it must be uncomfortable to sleep with that thing on bud, but I have to leave it on in case we need to take off in a hurry."

But Toothless had other things on his mind besides sleeping and he gently tackled Hiccup to the ground. Hiccup pretended to fight back and the two got so caught up in it that they didn't hear the pounding of the horse's hooves until its rider said "Don't worry I will shoot it, help is coming!" Hiccup looked up quickly and his eyes widened as he said "No, don't!"


	2. Chapter 2: Please Don't Tell Anyone

Merida chuckled to herself, until she saw her father standing nearby. She groaned at his stern expression, as Fergus said "Merida, what have I said about messing with your fellow leaders? A queen must be kind to those she wishes to befriend, same goes for a king." "Sorry dad." "Fergus, she is young she will learn." Came the voice of her mother, Elinor.

How much her mother had changed, years ago it would have been her mother giving her the lecture. "Remember how you were at her age?" Her mother ended with a laugh, to which Fergus first cracked a smile and then joined her in laughing. After a moment the both finished laughing and Fergus said "Your right Elinor, Merida do try to keep in mind in the future though that one wrong word can start a word."

His voice had grown serious at this last bit, and Merida saw the wisdom in this statement. "Your right, I will try to be more careful in the future." Merida headed to her room to change out of the clothes her mother insisted would be the best for meeting the chiefs and chieftains in. When she left her room she was wearing a comfortable green dress that she could easily ride Angus in. First she went to the kitchen, where she found her younger brothers raiding some food from under the cooks noses. Grabbing some food herself, she left without giving her brothers away, they had always been as hungry as baby bears.

Heading out to the stables, Merida stuffed her face with the food she had gathered, saving an apple, which she gave to Angus. "Here you go boy, ready for a ride?" Quickly she tacked up and hopped onto Angus, waving at her parents as she passed them by. They rode for hours, Merida enjoy this small taste of freedom.

Suddenly she heard a noise, a strange growling noise, from over the next hill. Curious she cautiously rode Angus towards the sound. The sight that met her eyes terrified her, the one called Hiccup pinned underneath a black dragon. Pulling out her bow she yelled "Don't worry I will shoot it, help is coming!" Hiccup looked at Merida, his eyes widening, and what he said surprised her. "No, don't!"

Merida lowered her bow, but didn't remove the arrow from its notch as she asked "Are you crazy?! It will rip you to shreds!" "No he won't, Toothless would never hurt me. I promise, keep the bow lowered and I will explain. Let me up bud." Merida watched, her own eyes growing wide as the dragon gently got up from on top of Hiccup and allowed him to stand up.

"This is Toothless, my dragon." Hiccup said "He is a friend of mine. Would you like to meet him?" Hiccup held out his hand towards Merida. "This is why you were curious about the dragon attacks? Your dragon attacked Anya's clan!" Hiccup looked shocked as he said "No, it wasn't Toothless, he can't fly without my help."

Merida backed Angus away as she said "So you attacked her clan? Why would you do that?" Hiccup groaned as he said "No I didn't either, I was interested as up until now, I thought Toothless was the only Night Fury." Merida stopped backing Angus, but kept well out of reach as she said "I don't know if I believe you. If you know so much about dragons, why haven't you offered to help Anya? Why not help other Vikings out?"

"Because knowledge about dragons in the wrong hands can result in terrible things. I don't know if you noticed, but I am the only new chief without any prior leader with them. That is because my dad was killed, not directly, by someone who knew too much about dragons." Hiccup said, "I don't want that to happen to anyone else. Plus the fact that we have had this knowledge for some time without telling, could cause a war among the clans. I really don't want to be the cause of that."

Merida was quite as she considered this, Hiccup seeing that she was considering this, decided to press his luck and said "Please don't tell anyone that Toothless is here. I couldn't leave him at home, but I know that I can't let him be seen. Please Merida, don't let anyone know." Merida could see that this meant a lot to Hiccup, but she just didn't know what to do. "I'll…. I'll think about it Hiccup. I can't make any promises." "That's all I ask, thank you Merida. Do you think you could give me a ride back to the castle? Toothless will be to cramped aboard the boat if I made him stay there, so he is staying here."

"I suppose I could Hiccup, but maybe not all the way, it would look weird if I came in with you when I left alone." "Fair enough." So after saying goodnight to Toothless, Hiccup climbed up behind Merida and they headed towards DunBroch. When they could see the walls, Merida halted Angus and helped Hiccup slide off, quite literally, and then continued on her way.

When she reached the castle, she went to find her mother, right now she could really use some advice. She found her working on a tapestry of her brothers, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish, in her bedroom. "Mum can I talk to you?" "Of course Merida, what do you need?" She said putting down her needle, and turned to look at her daughter.

"An acquaintance of mine asked me to keep a secret, but I don't know if I should." "Will this secret hurt anyone?" "That's just it, I don't know. I could see it not hurting but I could see it hurting." "Can you tell me anything about this secret?" Merida twirled her hair in her finger, thinking about this question for a moment.

Her mother seeing this said "Merida, if you need to think that much about your answer, it's probably no. I understand, there were a lot of things your father couldn't share with me." Merida smiled gratefully at her mother, but she still looked confused. Elinor smiled gently at her daughter and pulled her towards her, kissing her on the head once she had done so.

She pulled her back so she could see her eyes and said, "I know it is hard to rule Merida, but know this. I am very proud of you and you are doing a wonderful job so far. I am sure you will continue to make the right choices, just remember to always weigh the odds, and if the situation can only end badly, then go with the one that will cause the least damage."

Merida hugged her mom and said "Thanks mum. You have helped me so much." Giving her mom's hand one last squeeze she left the room, feeling lighter in her choice. She headed to her own room and got settled for the night.

The next morning Merida looked around the great hall, searching for Hiccup. She saw him talking to Heather and Eret, and made her way over to him. Upon reaching the small group she said "Good mornin' everyone, Hiccup may I borrow you for a moment?" "Sure Merida, excuse me guys." Hiccup said nervously. He had just been telling his friends about what happened with Merida last night, so they watched him walk away with a bit of worry in their eyes.

Once they were a safe distance from the other clans, Merida looked at Hiccup and said "I will keep your secret, for now, but if I think its best I will tell." Hiccup relaxed a little and looked relieved as he said "Thank you Merida, I truly hope you never think that it's necessary, but I respect your decision."

"Just don't make me regret keeping it." Merida said. Hiccup smiled and nodded as he headed back towards his friends. "What was that about Hiccup, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Heather as he approached them. "She agreed not to tell! Well for now at least. I just have to keep making her think that this is a good idea and we will be home free!"

"You going to give her a ride on a dragon?" "If I can I will. Speaking of dragons, how is Bone Crusher doing?" "He is doing well thanks." Merida watched him talk with his friends, a feeling crept over her that they knew his secret too, and that before this meeting was over they were all going to regret keeping it. But she would wait and see, it could just be a feeling after all. Or it could be more.


	3. Chapter 3: Let's Have A Feast

The next week passed in a rather calm fashion, well as calm as it could be with Vikings. Many things were discussed, but few things were actually agreed on. It was starting to feel like they were never going to get anything decided. Merida was feeling frustrated, she did not like sitting this long through such boring things, only for the next day them to be pulled back out and rehashed. Then some more Viking clans arrived, all of which had a common problem, dragons.

They wanted to talk about the loaning of weapons and men, that was it. They had no other interest and this just frustrated the other chiefs and chieftains that had been there since the beginning of the meeting. Merida looked around the room, noticing the bored look on Heather's face and how Eret wasn't even paying attention anymore, she decided that enough was enough.

Standing up, earning herself the attention of the entire room. "I think we could all use a break from these meetings. Tomorrow let's have a feast in the courtyard." This was met by a round of hearty agreements, especially from Hiccup and his friends. Hiccup had been stressed as the longer they were here and the more Vikings that came, the more chances there were of Toothless being discovered.

And yes while this feast meant a delay in the treaty being made, if that was even possible, at least it was a break from all the arguing. He wished his friends were there so they could have some fun with him at the feast. At least he might get to spend some extra time with Toothless tonight, since he didn't have to get up early for any meetings now.

The day both flew by and dragged on, flew by because the thought of having time with Toothless and dragged because of the same reason. Soon the meetings were over, but he still had to wait for dark. While doing so he wandered aimlessly down the halls of the castle, constantly looking out the windows at the sky.

He was doing so when he heard a sound behind him, and turned to find Merida and her mother standing there. "Hiccup, what are you doing here?" asked Merida. Hiccup looked around and realized he was in the section of the castle where Merida and her family lived. "Oh…oh oh boy." Hiccup started, feeling flustered, "I am so sorry…I aahhh, I didn't even notice where I was, where I was going!"

Elinor and Merida giggled and Elinor said "Do not worry Hiccup, we were just curious, haha." "Would you like to go for a ride with Angus and me? I was thinking about heading to the woods." Hiccup looked out the nearest window and saw the sky was now getting dark enough for him to take Toothless for a ride without the fear of being seen.

"That would be amazing Merida, when do you wish to leave?" "As soon as possible. Mum will you excuse us?" "Certainly Merida. It was nice meeting you Hiccup, your father always said so much about you. Maybe you would let me bend your ear on some memories later." Hiccup swallowed hard and said "That would be wonderful, thank you my lady." Elinor curtsied and left the two young people alone in the hall.

"This way Hiccup." Merida said, before leading him through the castle to the stable, where she saddled up Angus. After doing so, she once again pulled Hiccup on behind her and they left the castle behind them. "How much longer do you think this meeting will go on?" Hiccup asked. Merida sighed and said "I honestly don't know. I never remember these meetings taking so long, but then I didn't really pay attention to them before either. It could just be that since we have so many new leaders, but I don't think that's it."

"Well it could be that we are all trying we can be as good a leader as our parents, but I agree. I mean I can remember when one certain leader would visit, all my dad and him would do is sit down and sign the treaty. They understood each other so well, and weren't having to prove anything to anyone."

Merida nodded, at least Hiccup thought she did, it was hard to tell with her curls bouncing all over the place. The rest of the ride to Toothless was spent in silence, each young leader lost in their own thoughts. One wishing his dad was still around to teach him, the other wishing her dad was still the leader so that she could watch how he did things.

Toothless was ecstatic to see Hiccup coming, he came every night, but it wasn't for very long and the poor dragon was feeling lonely. "Hey bud, I am happy to see you too." Hiccup said after he got knocked down by Toothless. Then Toothless started licking him and he said "Aw bud you know that doesn't wash out."

Merida hide a laugh behind her hand, as Hiccup pulled himself out from under Toothless. Looking up, he caught a glimpse of the humor in her eyes, and smiled at her. "Would you like to ride him?" he asked her. Her eyes widened and lost all signs of the humor they had held seconds ago. "I don't know if I should."

Hiccup climbed onto Toothless back and held out his hand to her as he said "I promise everything will be fine. Let me show you what it looks like from up there." Merida hesitantly put her hand in his and allowed herself to be pulled onto the dragon's back.

"Come on bud, lets go." Shifting his attention to Merida he said "Hang on, Toothless sometimes tends to go fast." Merida's eyes widened even more, if that was possible as she screamed "What?!" at the same moment as Toothless took off.

She held on tightly to Hiccup as Toothless reached for the sky. Higher and higher they went, until she could see the stones and her castle. It was amazing and beautiful sight and she slowly released her tight grip, much to the relief of Hiccup, who now felt like he could breathe again. "Wouldn't my mum love to put this on a tapestry." Merida said, her voice filled with wonder.

"Maybe someday I could give her ride up here, or I could teach you and you could borrow Toothless in order to do so." "You would teach me to ride a dragon?!" "Sure, it's really not that hard, though Toothless is a bit harder, mainly cause you have to help him fly. Like me, he lost a part of him, though on his side it was my fault that he lost part of his tail."

Merida looked back, and for the first time noticed the red half of the tail. Facing forward again she said "Do I even dare ask what you lost?" "You mean you didn't notice? It was my left leg." Merida looked down at his false leg, questioning how she missed the sound it must make walking across the stone floor.

"If you don't mind Merida, I am going to take you down and then take Toothless for a long flight. I will see you at the feast tomorrow, don't worry about waiting for me." With that he took her down before riding back up into the night sky. He loved this part of his life, it was hard to believe there had ever been a time where he didn't see the world this way.

"Bud, I so wish I could share this with the world, but I know that it can never be so. Too many people would take advantage of this. I'm sorry I can't be around you all the time here bud, but soon this will be over and we can go back to Berk." With that he concentrated on giving Toothless a workout, pushing aside thoughts of the meeting.


	4. Chapter 4: There Stood-

At the feast the next day, the atmosphere had changed from one of tense, to one of fun. Merida's brothers were sneaking food from everywhere, though once again Merida pretended not to see them. Around her many of the younger leaders were laughing and dancing, but for some reason Merida couldn't shake a feeling of dread that was hanging over her. "I need to stop worrying about tomorrow and just focus on today." She told herself sternly.

Just then Eret walked up to her and bowed low. "My lady, will you do me the honor of this dance?" he asked, holding out his hand. Merida giggled at his formality and placed her hand in his. For the next few hours Merida let her cares be tossed aside, twirling around the dance floor with first one partner and then another.

Hiccup looked around the room, carefully balancing his plate of snacks in one hand and his drink in another. He had already saved himself from a dousing from his own drink several times as dancers danced to close. He saw Merida and was glad to see her having fun with her dance partner, some older chief from the North. Heather and Eret were talking over in a corner, also looking at Merida.

And though the air around him was filled with the liveliness of the feast, Hiccup felt somewhat disinterested in the whole thing, for without his friends, Toothless and especially Astrid he didn't really feel like this party was complete. He almost wished some emergency would arise that would call him back to Berk, but once again the thoughts of having to agree by anything the council decided irked him.

No, he needed to stay so Berk could have a voice, an opinion, put into the treaties. But he couldn't wait for the moment when he could first sail and then fly onto Berk. For that was his plan, as soon as they were far enough away from the other Vikings, with no fear of being overtaken, he was going to push on ahead to Berk on Toothless.

He shook himself mentally and thought, "You really should have fun while you can Hiccup, after all who knows how much longer this meeting can go on." And he went off to join in the festivities. He had never been very good at dancing, but Heather and he did one, as well as Merida and him, but he was too worried about his two left feet to dance with anyone he didn't know. He and Eret shared a tankard of ale, and he had many laughs with other leaders.

As they sat down to supper, a new Viking walked in. And when he saw who it was, Hiccup knew he was in trouble. For there stood Dagur, the Deranged! Eret and Heather cast worried glances Hiccup's way, knowing just who this was, while Merida put on her best court smiled and said "Welcome fellow Viking, we are glad you could join us."

Dagur bowed low, showing off his high court manners as he said "Thank you my lady. I hear one of our fellow leaders is having a problem with dragons and I, Dagur, have come to offer my services. Who is the one in need of help?" He said looking around the room. Somehow he missed Hiccup, even with Anya sitting just a few seats away.

Anya had raised her hand at his questions and he walked over and kissed her hand. "My men and I have a lot of practice in getting rid of these….. unwanted pest." He said as he looked up at her face. "If you wish, after this meeting is over, we would be happy to stop by and see if we can be of any help."

Anya blushed at his attention as she said "Thank you, Dagur. We would greatly appreciate any help you can give." Dagur smiled at her as he went and took the empty seat that had been set up for him. He passed by Hiccup, who kept his head down as he did. Hiccup knew he couldn't avoid Dagur for the rest of the meeting, but he needed to come up with a plan and fast.

As the hall once again filled with the voices of many Vikings, Hiccup stole quietly from his seat and out of the room. Heather, Eret and Merida all noticed him leaving, and one by one left the table to go check on him. Merida, the last one to join them, arrived just as she heard Hiccup say "This is bad, this is really bad." "What's the matter Hiccup?" she asked, confused at his sudden panic.

"That new Viking that joined us, Dagur? He is an old acquaintance of mine, one who I have never gotten along with. But that I could live with, no it's worse than that. Dagur knows I know how to train a dragon! As soon as he sees me, I just know he is going to make things go bad." Merida groaned as she thought of what the others would say when they learned Hiccup's secret.

"Why not just leave early?" asked Merida. "We could say you received a message from home if anyone asked." Hiccup shook his head and said "If Dagur even found out I was here and then left he would either use that against me or he would have the council agree to some anti-dragon thing which if I left early I would be honor bound to obey. So unless you can think of a way to get everyone agree to not mention my name around Dagur, then I don't see how that plan will work."

The group stood in silence, each knowing that there was no way around this. Dagur was going to find out Hiccup was there, it was just a matter of when. Hiccup was the next to speak "Well since there is no stopping this from happening, I am going to tell Bucket and the others to be ready to leave at a moments notice tomorrow. If only I could get Toothless closer to town but still keep him hidden, that way he wouldn't have to go on the boat tonight."

"We could put him in the stables, no one around here ever goes in Angus' area accept me, Toothless could have the stall next to him." Merida said. "Prefect." Said Hiccup "That way he can be close if I need him but not have to be locked up. Thank you Merida." "The other Vikings aren't going to like this Merida if they find out he was in the stables, they'll know you knew Hiccup's secret. You could be putting your family at risk." Heather said.

"I know Heather, thank you for your concern. But after seeing Toothless and riding on him, I can't not help Hiccup." Merida said. "Dragons are an amazing friend, once you take the time to get to know them." Eret said. The others nodded their agreement, before Hiccup turned to Merida and said "The others are right Merida. If you help me, and the other leaders find out DunBroch would be in danger. I don't think I can ask you to do that for me."

"You're not asking Hiccup, I am offering and I won't take no for an answer." Merida said. "If even half of what you have told be about Dagur is true, you will need all the help you can get." Hiccup smiled his gratitude, as Heather said "Merida is right, Hiccup. You helped me before, so if you need me know that I will be willing to help as well." "Me too." Eret chimed in.

"Thank you all so much, having your support is a wonderful feeling." Hiccup said. "I am going to head out and bring Toothless in, I will walk there so that it should be very dark by the time I get back with him. Heather, unless I have totally missed something you have no reputation that could proceed you so try to get close to Dagur to see if you can learn anything, it's just a bit odd that he should show up now and I have a funny feeling about him."

Heather nodded and headed back to the festivities as Hiccup turned to Eret and said "You can also try to get close to Dagur, maybe trade dragon catching tips, though preferably harmless ones, with him and make him think he has an ally and friend in you." "Will do Hiccup." He replied as he followed Heather back into the dining room.

"Merida you are helping me out so much already, all I ask is that when it gets dark act like you're going out to check on Angus, and then once you are sure no one has followed you come and meet me at the gate so we can get Toothless in. Luckily for us there will be no moon tonight." "I will be waiting Hiccup." She replied, as she too returned to the festivities.

Hiccup left the castle, stopping first at the boat to alert Bucket and the others to the possible trouble and fast exit they would need to make, before hurrying on towards Toothless. "I could really use you right now dad." He thought as he began the long walk to Toothless hiding spot, "More than ever I could really use you."


	5. Chapter 5: I've Been Looking For You

Heather looked around the dining hall for a glimpse of Dagur, as everyone had finished eating and split off into groups. She spotted him surrounded by several other chiefs, including Anya, as they listened to his tales of hunting dragons. Eret came up behind her and whispered, "Hiccup wants us both to get close to Dagur, so don't worry about failing." Heather nodded without turning around and headed towards Dagur.

Upon reaching him she took ahold of his arm and said "Dagur, I have been looking for you! I was hoping you and I could talk about dragons, I could always use a strong Viking like yourself to help with them. However did you know so many of us would need your help? The gods surely smiled upon us to bring you our way."

Dagur, whom had been momentarily tongue tied at Heather's forwardness, found his voice and with a crazy chuckle said "Well you have me at a disadvantage, you see you know my name, but I don't know yours." Heather laughed and said "Oh of course, I was just so excited that I forgot to introduce myself! I am Heather."

"Well Heather" Dagur said, obviously flattered, "I heard talk that a dragon had been spotted in these parts. And since all the sightings have been at night, there is a good chance that it is a Night Fury, and every dragon hunter worth his salt will soon be here to hunt for it. So I came as quick as I could to try to get it first."

"Hiccup must have been spotted while riding Toothless." Heather thought, as she gasped and said "A Night Fury!? Why would you even want to attempt going after one of those? The Book of Dragons says that they are the worst, that you will soon meet your end if you take on one."

"Exactly why the one who kills one will be remembered!" Dagur said with a wicked grin "And that someone will be me!" "Well now that I know there is one to be had it might just be me." Eret said walking up. "Eret, that's right you hunt dragons too." Heather said "Perhaps I should have both of you come to my island sometime."

Dagur frowned a bit before saying "I'm sure I could handle your problem." "Oh I am sure you could too" Heather said quickly "Its just that I wasn't sure how busy either of you are so I am just tossing it out there that I need dragon help." Dagur seemed to accept that answer as he said "I am never too busy to help such a lovely lady as yourself."

Eret rolled his eyes at Dagur, whom had made a bow at Heather as he said that, before saying "Neither am I Heather, so don't be afraid to ask." before walking off to join another group. Dagur watched him go before turning back to Heather and said "So what kind of dragon problem are you having?" "They keep on stealing our animals. My people are worried about going hungry this winter." Dagur nodded as he said "It's a very common problem, come lets talk about it over a glass of ale."

Meanwhile Hiccup was just reaching Toothless. "Hey bud how are you, want to go for a walk?" Toothless nudge Hiccup towards his back, but Hiccup gently pushed him back and said "Not tonight boy, we need to keep low so we aren't as easy to spot. Dagur is hear bud, and he is looking for you." Hiccup made sure everything was ready to go, in case they needed to take a fast flight, and then both him and Toothless headed down the road.

**Hey everyone, sorry for how long it has been in between chapters, my job got busy and I just have felt like I have been running at full speed for two weeks. Sorry this is short, but I wanted to let you guys know I was still here and that this story will still be written.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Decision

Eret kept his eyes on Heather and Dagur, ready to step in if she needed him. Merida stood beside him, trying to look like she still enjoyed the festivities, though really she was worried about what it could become. If Dagur even saw Hiccup, one whom he knew had a dragon and a Night Fury at that, then things could go wrong. Yet how could they get rid of Dagur so that Hiccup could attend meetings, have a voice in the matters at hand?

Sighing to herself, she knew deep in her heart that there would come a time when they could not hide Toothless and Hiccup from sight, before this very meeting was out. She just had to have faith that this younger generation, her generation, was more open to hearing about dragons then their fathers and mothers.

Eret, having heard her sigh, turned to her and said "Are you alright Merida?" "Just letting my mind get the better of me I'm afraid, but nothing other than that." She replied, her eyes on Heather as she said something to Dagur. "You know we wont be able to hide them from everyone here for long. Especially since Dagur knows Hiccup, it's only a matter of time until he spots him and either declares war on Berk or suggest that Hiccup was behind the attacks, or something." she continued.

Eret nodded as he said "I had been thinking about that myself. Dagur and his Hooligan Tribe aren't a match for Hiccup and Berk, but if he got even a few of the tribes here behind him, then things could get ugly fast. But what other path could possibly happen? We both know that Hiccup wont leave as he wants to have a voice in the decisions, especially with so many anti-dragon leaders, but we also know that the longer he stays around the more likely Dagur is to see him. Dagur wont leave for the same reason Hiccup wont leave, and every chief is required to be at the meetings."

"I thought about having him send in a replacement leader, but everyone knows what he looks like, and it would still be announced that they were from Berk, so Dagur would be all on that." Eret sighed and said, there really is no way around it is there? I was kind of hoping it was just something I missed." "I am going to go get Heather, we all need to convince Hiccup that it's best that he goes home." Merida said as she headed towards Heather and Dagur.

As she neared Heather she smiled and said "Heather, there you are! Come with me I must show you something. Forgive me… Dagur was it? But do you mind me stealing her?" Dagur looked at Merida's smile and returned it as he said "I don't mind, my lady." It took all Merida's will power not to roll her eyes… while facing him anyways. "Thank you, come Heather I can't wait to show you."

She took Heather in the direction of her room, though as soon as they were outside of the hall she led her outside where they were joined shortly by Eret. "Heather, Eret and I were talking and there is no way Hiccup can remain hidden from Dagur, so we need to convince him to take Toothless and go home." "He wont go, trust me I know Hiccup and he wont. But if you want to try I will go with you, for I know you are right."

Merida took them to the stables and helped them onto a couple of horses before getting on Angus herself. They rode off like they hadn't a care in the world, but as soon as the castle was out of sight behind them, they rode as fast as they could. Following Merida in the direction that Hiccup would be coming from.

Once again I am sorry for such a short chapter, just wanted to show you once again I am still alive. I love this story though and I just don't want to rush it too much, but know that it's coming to a head ;)


End file.
